U.S. patent application number 12/137342 was filed with the patent office on 2009-12-17 for modified game of twenty-one having modified limits and payouts and method of playing.
Invention is credited to Irving S. May.
Application Number | 20090309305 12/137342 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 41414026 |
Filed Date | 2009-12-17 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090309305 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
May; Irving S. |
December 17, 2009 |
MODIFIED GAME OF TWENTY-ONE HAVING MODIFIED LIMITS AND PAYOUTS AND
METHOD OF PLAYING
Abstract
A method of playing a playing card wagering game comprises:
placing a first minimum wager within a table limit, the first
minimum wager establishing a minimum wager and a maximum wager the
player may bet until all of the playing cards have been played and
the playing cards are reshuffled and the minimum first wager for
the next round is to be placed; dealing a first player card face-up
to all players; dealing a first dealer card face-up to a dealer;
dealing a second player card face-up to all players; performing one
of the following steps by each player: take another playing card
which is dealt face-up, holding and taking no more playing cards,
increase the first minimum wager to double the first minimum wager
and taking only one more playing card which is dealt face-up, and
splitting the first and second player card to form two separate
playing hands and increasing the first minimum wager to double the
first minimum wager; dealing a second dealer card; and determining
a winning hand.
Inventors: |
May; Irving S.; (Tempe,
AZ) |
Correspondence
Address: |
WEISS & MOY PC
4204 NORTH BROWN AVENUE
SCOTTSDALE
AZ
85251
US
|
Family ID: |
41414026 |
Appl. No.: |
12/137342 |
Filed: |
June 11, 2008 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
273/292 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63F 2001/003 20130101;
A63F 3/00157 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
273/292 |
International
Class: |
A63F 1/00 20060101
A63F001/00 |
Claims
1. A method of playing a playing card wagering game comprising:
placing a first minimum wager within a table limit by each player,
the first minimum wager establishing a minimum wager and a maximum
wager each player may bet each round, the minimum wager and maximum
wager being changeable only upon all of the playing cards being
played and the playing cards are reshuffled and the minimum first
wager for the next round with the reshuffled playing cards is to be
placed, wherein the minimum wager is equal to the first minimum
wager and wherein the maximum wager being a predetermined positive
integer multiple of 2 or higher of the first minimum wager; dealing
a first player card face-up to all players; dealing a first deal
card face-up to a dealer; dealing a second player card face-up to
all players; performing one of the following action steps by each
player: take another playing card which is dealt face-up, holding
and taking no more playing cards, increase the first minimum wager
to double the first minimum wager and taking only one more playing
card which is dealt face-up, and splitting the first and second
player card to form two separate playing hands and increasing the
first minimum wager to double the first minimum wager; dealing a
second dealer card; and determining a winning hand.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising dealing the second
dealer card face-up to the dealer prior to each player performing
one of the action steps if the first dealer card is one of an ace,
two, three, four or five, the dealer will then deal himself a
second playing card faceup.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein performing one of the following
action steps by each player further comprises electing not to play
the current round by the player after seeing the first dealer
card.
4. The method of claim 3 wherein electing not to play the current
round by the player after seeing the first dealer card further
comprises taking back one-half of the first minimum wager amount
and paying one-half to a bank.
5. The method of claim 1 further comprising paying a payout of 3 to
2 for one of a five or six playing card hand by the player having a
total value of twenty-one.
6. The method of claim 1 further comprising paying a payout of 3 to
1 for one of a seven or more playing card hand by the player having
a total value of twenty-one.
7. The method of claim 1 further comprising taking insurance by the
player that the dealer will have a deal hand of one of Blackjack or
dealer card hand having a total value of twenty-one.
8. The method of claim 7 wherein the insurance pays 2 to 1.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein all the playing cards are to be
dealt prior to reshuffling the playing cards.
10. A method of playing a playing card wagering game comprising:
placing a first minimum wager within a table limit, the first
minimum wager establishing a minimum wager and a maximum wager the
player may bet until all of the playing cards have been played and
the playing cards are reshuffled and the minimum first wager for
the next round is to be placed; dealing a first player card faceup
to all players; dealing a first deal card faceup to a dealer;
dealing a second player card face-up to all players; performing one
of the following action steps by each player: take another playing
card which is dealt face-up, holding and taking no more playing
cards, increase the first minimum wager to double the first minimum
wager and taking only one more playing card which is dealt face-up,
and splitting the first and second player card to form two separate
playing hands and increasing the first minimum wager to double the
first minimum wager; dealing a second dealer card; and determining
a winning hand; wherein all the playing cards are to be dealt prior
to reshuffling the playing cards.
11. The method of claim 10 further comprising dealing the second
dealer card face-up to the dealer prior to each player performing
one of the action steps if the first dealer card is one of an ace,
two, three, four or five, the dealer will then deal himself a
second playing card face-up.
12. The method of claim 10 wherein performing one of the following
action steps by each player further comprises electing not to play
the current round by the player after seeing the first dealer
card.
13. The method of claim 12 wherein electing not to play the current
round by the player after seeing the first dealer card further
comprises taking back one-half of the first minimum wager amount
and paying one-half to a bank.
14. The method of claim 10 further comprising paying a payout of 3
to 2 for one of a five or six playing card hand by the player
having a total value of twenty-one.
15. The method of claim 10 further comprising paying a payout of 3
to 1 for one of a seven or more playing card hand by the player
having a total value of twenty-one.
16. The method of claim 10 further comprising taking insurance by
the player that the dealer will have a deal hand of one of
Blackjack or dealer card hand having a total value of twenty-one
wherein the insurance pays 2 to 1.
17. (canceled)
18. A method of playing a playing card wagering game comprising:
placing a first minimum wager within a table limit, the first
minimum wager establishing a minimum wager and a maximum wager the
player may bet each round until all of the playing cards have been
played and the playing cards are reshuffled and the minimum first
wager for a new round with the reshuffled playing cards is to be
placed; dealing a first player card face-up to all players; dealing
a first deal card face-up to a dealer; dealing a second player card
face-up to all players; performing one of the following action
steps by each player: take another playing card which is dealt
face-up, holding and taking no more playing cards, increase the
first minimum wager to double the first minimum wager and taking
only one more playing card which is dealt face-up, and splitting
the first and second player card to form two separate playing hands
and increasing the first minimum wager to double the first minimum
wager, and electing not to play the current round by the player
after seeing the first dealer card; dealing a second dealer card;
and determining a winning hand; wherein dealing the second dealer
card face-up to the dealer prior to each player performing one of
the action steps if the first dealer card is one of an ace, two,
three, four or five, the dealer will then deal himself a second
playing card face-up; wherein all the playing cards are to be dealt
prior to reshuffling the playing cards; wherein the player is
allowed to make a consecutive wager that is double the maximum
wager placed on an immediately previous losing hand regardless of
the table limit, and wherein the player is allowed to double a
losing consecutive wager on additional hands for each consecutive
losing hand until the player achieves a winning hand, and wherein a
winning hand following four or more losing consecutive wagers
wherein the player has doubled a previous wager for each losing
hand is paid even money.
19. The method of claim 18 further comprising taking insurance by
the player that the dealer will have a deal hand of one of
Blackjack or dealer card hand having a total value of
twenty-one.
20. The method of claim 18 wherein electing not to play the current
round by the player after seeing the first dealer card further
comprises taking back one-half of the first minimum wager amount
and paying one-half to a bank.
21. The method of claim 1 wherein the player is allowed to make a
consecutive wager that is double the maximum wager placed on an
immediately previous losing hand regardless of the table limit, and
wherein the player is allowed to double a losing consecutive wager
on additional hands for each consecutive losing hand until the
player achieves a winning hand, and wherein a winning hand
following four or more losing consecutive wagers wherein the player
has doubled a previous wager for each losing hand is paid even
money.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] This invention relates generally to a playing card game, and
more specifically, to a playing card wagering game that may be
played with one or more standard deck of playing cards or by video
machine technology wherein all playing cards are dealt face-up and
played and having modified player set beating limits within the
table limits and payouts.
[0002] Twenty-one or blackjack has been a popular card game for
many years. Twenty-one is a standard table game in most casinos.
The popularity of this game is due in large part to the fact that
it is easy to play, there is very little strategy that needs to be
learned, and the players have a better chance of beating the house
then in other table games at the casino. The card game twenty-one
is described in several U.S. Patents. U.S. Pat. No. 5,257,789
issued to LeVasseur and U.S. Pat. No. 5,413,353 issued to Demarest
et al., both disclose how to play the standard method of playing
twenty-one.
[0003] In most casinos, the player's cards are dealt face down and
the playing cards are reshuffled once the blank card used to cut
the playing card has been reached. This is done to prevent the
players from card counting. Card counting is a strategy used to
determine when a player has a probability advantage. In card
counting, a player will try and track the ratio of high cards to
low cards. The principle behind counting cards in twenty-one is
that a deck of cards with a high proportion of high cards
(ten-valued cards and aces) to low cards is good for the player, is
good for the dealer. A deck rich in tens and aces improves the
player's odds because obtaining twenty-one becomes more common, the
dealer is more likely to bust a stiff hand, and double-downs are
more successful. Card counting is prohibited from casinos since it
increases the odds of the player beating the casino.
[0004] Another drawback of current twenty-one games is there are
limited payouts. Payouts are given when the player beats the dealer
and the player reaches 21/backjack.
[0005] Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a card game and
method that overcomes the above problems.
SUMMARY
[0006] A method of playing a playing card wagering game comprises:
placing a first minimum wager within a table limit, the first
minimum wager establishing a minimum wager and a maximum wager the
player may bet until all of the playing cards have been played and
the playing cards are reshuffled and the minimum first wager for
the next round is to be placed; dealing a first player card face-up
to all players; dealing a first dealer card face-up to a dealer;
dealing a second player card face-up to all players; performing one
of the following steps by each player: take another playing card
which is dealt face-up, holding and taking no more playing cards,
increase the first minimum wager to double the first minimum wager
and taking only one more playing card which is dealt face-up, and
splitting the first and second player card to form two separate
playing hands and increasing the first minimum wager to double the
first minimum wager; dealing a second dealer card; and determining
a winning hand.
[0007] The features, functions, and advantages can be achieved
independently in various embodiments of the disclosure or may be
combined in yet other embodiments.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] Embodiments of the disclosure will become more fully
understood from the detailed description and the accompanying
drawings, wherein:
[0009] FIG. 1 depicts a method of playing a modified version of
twenty-one according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0010] Referring to the Figure, a modified version of the card game
twenty-one will be disclosed. The card game is played with a
standard deck of playing cards. Any number of decks of playing
cards may be used. The playing cards will generally be shuffled.
For security purposes in a gambling establishment, the playing
cards may be placed in a card dealer shoe.
[0011] In the present card game, all the playing cards will be
dealt before the playing cards will be reshuffled. In current
versions of twenty-one, the playing cards are generally cut by a
player who places a blank card in the stack of playing cards. Once
the blank card is reached, the playing cards are reshuffled at the
end of the round. This is done to prevent players from card
counting. Since all the playing cards will be dealt before the
playing cards will be reshuffled, the modified version of the card
game twenty-one allow skillful players to have a better opportunity
to win.
[0012] In order to play, each player must place a minimum first
wager. The minimum first wager can be any amount of money within
the table limits established by the gambling establishment.
However, the first minimum wager placed by the player will
establish the minimum wager and maximum wager the player may bet
until all of the playing cards have been played and the playing
cards are reshuffled and the minimum first wager for the next round
is to be placed.
[0013] As an example, if the table limit is $500 and a player
places a first minimum wager of $200, then that player's minimum
bet is set at $200 and the player's maximum bet is set at $400.
Thus, the player's maximum bet is set at two times the first
minimum wager and the player must bet a minimum of $200 each round
until all of the playing cards have been played and the playing
cards are reshuffled and the first wager for the next round is to
be placed. The player at this time may change the first minimum
wager to another value such as $100. Other proportions may be used
without departing from the spirit and scope of the present
invention. For example, a ratio of 3 to one may be used where the
maximum bet is three times the first minimum wager or four to one,
etc.
[0014] Once each player has placed a first minimum wager, a dealer
will deal one playing card face up to each player. The dealer also
deals one playing card face up to himself. The players may take
insurance no matter what playing card the dealer is dealt. The
player who is taking insurance is betting that the dealer will
obtain a specific hand/total. More specifically, the player is
taking insurance that the dealer will have a total value of playing
cards equal to 21. The payout is 2:1 if the player wins. A second
playing card is then dealt to each player face-up.
[0015] Any player before acting on his/her hand and after seeing
the dealer's first playing card may elect not to continue playing
the present round. In this case, the player may elect to take back
one-half of his/her first minimum wager amount. The player will
then automatically lose the other half of the first minimum wager
amount. In the example above, if the player placed a first minimum
wager of $200 and elected not to play the round, the player may
take back $100 and pay the bank $100 to not play the rest of the
round.
[0016] If the dealer is dealt an ace, two, three, four or five, the
dealer will then deal himself a second playing card face-up.
However, as stated above, any player after seeing the dealer's
first playing card may elect not to continue playing the present
round. This is done before the dealer will deal himself a second
playing card face-up.
[0017] If the dealer's first playing card is a six, seven, eight,
nine, ten, jack, queen or king, each player must decided if he/she
will continue to play. If the player elects to continue to play,
the present card game is played in a similar manner to prior art
games of twenty-one. The player's options for playing his or her
hand are: (1) Hit: The player take another playing card which is
dealt face-up. The player make continue to take additional playing
cards, all of which are dealt face-up, until the player stands or
bust (i.e., exceeds the total value of twenty-one). (2) Stand: The
player will take no more playing cards. (3) Double down: The player
will increase the wager to a maximum of double the original bet and
take exactly one more playing card which is dealt face-up. The
player can double down on any playing card value. For example, if
the player's original bet was $200, the player could increase the
bet by up to an additional $200, for a new total bet of up to $400.
Increasing the wager to less than twice the original bet is called
"double down for less". (4) Split: The player will double the
initial wager and have each playing card be the first playing card
in a new hand. This option is available only when both playing
cards have the same rank.
[0018] In a similar manner, if the dealer is dealt an ace, two,
three, four or five, and the player elects to continue to play, the
dealer will deal himself a second playing card face-up. Each player
must then choose one of the player's options for playing his or her
hand. Thus, the player must (1) Hit, (2) Stand, (3) Double down, or
(4) Split as disclosed above.
[0019] The player's turn is over after deciding to stand, doubling
down to take a single playing card, or busting. If the player
busts, he or she loses the bet even if the dealer goes on to bust.
Once each player's turn is over and each players has finished
making their decisions, the dealer will deal another playing card
to himself if the first playing card the dealer was dealt was
greater than a five and not an ace. House rules say that the dealer
must hit until he or she has at least 17, regardless of what the
players have. In some casinos a dealer must also hit a soft 17 (a
combination of playing cards adding up to either 7 or 17, such as
an ace and a 6)
[0020] Payouts in the current card game are different from the
prior art. If the dealer busts then all remaining players win and
are paid one to one. Players who push (tie) with the dealer receive
their original bet back. If the player's hand is greater then the
dealers and both the player did not bust, the payout is also one to
one. If the player obtains "Black Jack", the payout is 3 to 2. The
above are similar to current twenty-one games.
[0021] However, the present game has several bonus situations. If
the player has hit 3 or 4 times and has a five or six playing card
hand that has a total value of twenty-one, the player wins a payout
of 3 to 2. If the player hits 5 or more times and has a seven or
more playing card hand that has a total value of twenty-one, the
player wins a payout of 3 to 1 or a Double Blackjack Payout.
[0022] The present card game is a game of skill. Since all cards
will be played face-up and all playing cards are played before
reshuffling, the modified version of the card game twenty-one allow
skillful players to have a better opportunity to win by card
counting. The present card game further allows players to set their
own beating limits within the limits of the table.
[0023] However, the limits may be modified by agreement of
management and players. For example, in accordance with another
embodiment of the present invention, if a player loses his maximum
bet, the player may double the next bet. If the player again loses,
the player may double the last bet again. This may continue for a
total of four times. If the player's hand is a Blackjack or a six
or more card hand having a total card value of twenty-one, the
player wins a payout of 3 to 2. After the player loses a total of
four straight times each time doubling the previous maximum bet,
the player may continue to double the previous maximum bet, but
will only be paid even money.
[0024] For example, the player has a minimum bet set at $200 and a
maximum bet set at two times the minimum which would be $400. The
player bets and loses $400, then $800, then $1600, and then $3200.
The player would have received 3 to 2 on the above bets if he had
Blackjack or a six or more card hand having a total card value of
twenty-one on any of the above bets. If after losing the fourth
time the player decides to bet $6400 and wins, the player only
receives even money even if the player has Blackjack or a six or
more card hand having a total card value of twenty-one. If the
player loses the $6400 hand, the player may continue to double the
previous bet till the player wins a hand or the player quits.
However, as soon as the player wins a hand, the player must go back
to his original minimum/maximum bet (i.e., he must bet a minimum of
$200 and no more then $400).
[0025] While embodiments of the disclosure have been described in
terms of various specific embodiments, those skilled in the art
will recognize that the embodiments of the disclosure can be
practiced with modifications within the spirit and scope of the
claims.
* * * * *